A New Mission. A Legacy Taking Root.

Building a future where agriculture, stewardship, and opportunity grow together.

Some legacies are inherited. Others begin with someone willing to take the first step.

For Darnell Dugger, the owner of Acre & Herd Ranch, that step led from military service to a career in technology, and eventually to the land.

An Army veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Darnell went on to become a software support engineer. But alongside that career, he held a persistent dream: to farm. Through Georgia Farm Link, which connects landowners with farmers seeking land, he found a place to begin. Acre & Herd Ranch started with nine sheep and a vision for what could grow.

Today, his story offers an important reminder: the future of agriculture depends on making room for people ready to build it.

Finding His Ground

Based in Griffin, Georgia, Acre & Herd Ranch brings together sheep production and solar grazing. Darnell’s sheep manage vegetation beneath solar panels, allowing agricultural activity and energy production to share the same ground. His solar grazing work extends to contracts across Georgia.

For a first-generation rancher, that model opens possibilities. Darnell has spoken publicly about the difficulty of entering agriculture without inherited farmland—and how solar grazing can create another pathway into the industry. His work puts that possibility into practice, connecting the needs of energy producers with the ambitions of a growing agricultural enterprise.

There is ingenuity here. There is also purpose: finding a way to build a livelihood while keeping land productive.

Resilience Takes Relationships

Darnell brings persistence to that work. He also values learning, naming continual learning as essential to growth and encouraging other solar graziers to keep looking for the door that will open.

At Potlikker, we see something essential in that outlook. A producer’s determination deserves an ecosystem equally committed to helping possibility take root.

That is the work of Ecosystem Investing: listening to what a producer wants to build, understanding what stands in the way, and bringing together capital, talent, resources, expertise, and trusted relationships around that vision.

Access to land creates a beginning. Knowledge helps a producer navigate unfamiliar ground. Relationships can open markets, connect expertise, and create opportunities that would be difficult to reach alone. Together, those elements strengthen a business’s capacity to adapt, endure, and grow.

“For me, resilience means being able to keep building when the path changes. You need people around you who understand your vision and can help connect the pieces. That’s what resonates with me about Potlikker’s approach. When you have investors that go above and beyond to ensure you have the tools, resources, and expertise to help your business thrive, it gives you a stronger foundation for the future you’re building for your family and future generations.”

Potlikker: More than A Name

Potlikker is the nourishing broth left after greens have simmered, the goodness gathered in the pot, carrying the richness of everything that went into it.

We bring that spirit to investing. Each relationship contributes something. Each connection can strengthen the whole. The lasting value comes from what those ingredients make possible together.

At Acre & Herd Ranch, Darnell is creating a legacy of his own: a business rooted in determination, responsive to new opportunities, and connected to the land.

That is a future worth nourishing.